The Fastskin Revolution From Human Fish to Swimming Androids
The story of fastskin swimsuits reflects some of the challenges facing the impact of technology in postmodern culture. Introduced in 1999 and ratified for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, fastskin swimsuits were touted as revolutionising competitive swimming. Ten years later, they were banned by the w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Linköping University Electronic Press
2011-04-01
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| Series: | Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.11371 |
| _version_ | 1798045122406907904 |
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| author | Jennifer Craik |
| author_facet | Jennifer Craik |
| author_sort | Jennifer Craik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The story of fastskin swimsuits reflects some of the challenges facing the impact of technology in postmodern culture. Introduced in 1999 and ratified for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, fastskin swimsuits were touted as revolutionising competitive swimming. Ten years later, they were banned by the world’s swimming regulatory body FINA (the Fédération Internationale de Natation), with the ban taking effect from January 2010 (Shipley 2009). The reason was the controversy caused by the large number of world records that were broken by competitors wearing polyurethane swimsuits, the next generation of the original fast skin suits. These suits were deemed to be providing an artificial advantage by increasing buoyancy and reducing drag. This had been an issue ever since they were introduced, yet FINA had approved the suits and, thereby, unleashed an unstoppable technological revolution of the sport of competitive swimming. Underlying this was the issue about its implications of the transformation of a sport based on the movement of the human body through water without the aid of artificial devices or apparatus. This article argues that the advent of the fastskin has not only transformed the art of swimming but has created a new image of the swimmer as a virtual android rather than a human fish. In turn, the image of the sport of swimming has been re-mapped as a technical artefact and sci-fi spectacle based on a radically transformed concept of the swimming body as a material object that has implications for the ideal of the fashionable body. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:15:25Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-839b97d3d8e64b09a60ea488e91b4317 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2000-1525 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T23:15:25Z |
| publishDate | 2011-04-01 |
| publisher | Linköping University Electronic Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-839b97d3d8e64b09a60ea488e91b43172022-12-22T03:57:38ZengLinköping University Electronic PressCulture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research2000-15252011-04-0137182The Fastskin Revolution From Human Fish to Swimming AndroidsJennifer CraikThe story of fastskin swimsuits reflects some of the challenges facing the impact of technology in postmodern culture. Introduced in 1999 and ratified for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, fastskin swimsuits were touted as revolutionising competitive swimming. Ten years later, they were banned by the world’s swimming regulatory body FINA (the Fédération Internationale de Natation), with the ban taking effect from January 2010 (Shipley 2009). The reason was the controversy caused by the large number of world records that were broken by competitors wearing polyurethane swimsuits, the next generation of the original fast skin suits. These suits were deemed to be providing an artificial advantage by increasing buoyancy and reducing drag. This had been an issue ever since they were introduced, yet FINA had approved the suits and, thereby, unleashed an unstoppable technological revolution of the sport of competitive swimming. Underlying this was the issue about its implications of the transformation of a sport based on the movement of the human body through water without the aid of artificial devices or apparatus. This article argues that the advent of the fastskin has not only transformed the art of swimming but has created a new image of the swimmer as a virtual android rather than a human fish. In turn, the image of the sport of swimming has been re-mapped as a technical artefact and sci-fi spectacle based on a radically transformed concept of the swimming body as a material object that has implications for the ideal of the fashionable body.http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.11371Bodysuitsswimmingtechnologysportswearconsumer culturespectaclefashion |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer Craik The Fastskin Revolution From Human Fish to Swimming Androids Culture Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research Bodysuits swimming technology sportswear consumer culture spectacle fashion |
| title | The Fastskin Revolution From Human Fish to Swimming Androids |
| title_full | The Fastskin Revolution From Human Fish to Swimming Androids |
| title_fullStr | The Fastskin Revolution From Human Fish to Swimming Androids |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Fastskin Revolution From Human Fish to Swimming Androids |
| title_short | The Fastskin Revolution From Human Fish to Swimming Androids |
| title_sort | fastskin revolution from human fish to swimming androids |
| topic | Bodysuits swimming technology sportswear consumer culture spectacle fashion |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.11371 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jennifercraik thefastskinrevolutionfromhumanfishtoswimmingandroids AT jennifercraik fastskinrevolutionfromhumanfishtoswimmingandroids |